Hold Big Oil Accountable

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Jill Mastrototaro, Sierra Club" <membership.services@sierraclub.org>
Date: Apr 20, 2012 3:50 PM
Subject: Hold Big Oil Accountable
To: <aquarianm@gmail.com>

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		Dear Daniel, Stand Up To Big Oil! It has been two years to the day since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, nineteen months since the oil stopped gushing into the Gulf, and six months since BP announced their cleanup phase "finished."1 Now BP and Big Oil are back to business as usual in the Gulf and their sights are set on even riskier drilling projects. Big Oil wants to drill on every coast they can to maintain their record profits. Meanwhile, Gulf communities and coastlines are still suffering from their negligence. It's time for local communities to take charge. Tell President Obama: We, the people, should be in control of our coasts, not Big Oil. After the tragedy began, we learned that BP's disaster response plan which had been approved by regulatory agencies was an error-filled copy-and-paste job riddled with "leftovers" from other plans, including a strategy to protect the Gulf's (non-existent) walrus population.2 The Gulf Coast has now paid the price for a broken system that allows Big Oil to make its own rules. We need to stand up for the Gulf Coast and communities all across the country that are at risk from Big Oil's dangerous and reckless approach to offshore drilling. Ask President Obama put power back in the people's hands. We need Regional Citizens' Advisory Councils to give locals a powerful say in communities where drilling occurs and we should start with the Gulf Coast. Community members who live and work along the Gulf Coast understand best the long-lasting impacts of BP's oil and are fighting to hold BP accountable. They should be the ones our "experts" listen to -- people like: Marylee Orr, a native Louisianan and founder of Louisiana Environmental Action Network, who has been working with communities across the Gulf Coast suffering from the effects of oil exposure; Phuong Ngyen, a Vietnamese fisherman from Buras, Louisiana, who has been going out for weeks, returning with a catch that will hardly feed his family; or Rip Kirby, a Florida geologist who is using UV lights to find toxic tar material that is concentrating along Gulf beaches. Give citizens like Marylee, Phuong, and Rip a voice in protecting their communities and holding BP and Big Oil accountable. Tell President Obama to create a Regional Citizens' Advisory Council for the Gulf Coast and wherever offshore drilling is happening or proposed. Thanks for all you do to protect the environment, Jill Mastrototaro Gulf Coast Campaign Director Sierra Club P.S. After you take action, be sure to forward this alert to your friends and colleagues! Photo credit: U.S. Coast Guard [1] BP Press Release. November 9, 2011. [2] "BP's gulf oil spill response plan lists the walrus as a local species. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is furious," The Christian Science Monitor. June 9, 2010. If you do not wish to receive future emails like this, click here to be removed from this type of email contact.

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